The Grimm Reaper's Biggest Fan
by Nnox Inkuree
Summary: The world didn't have many heroes. Qrow certainly didn't have many people he looked up to. He thought that one of his heroes had died long ago, but here she was, right in front of him! People say never meet your heroes, but Qrow never gave a damn what other people think. Will add Maria to the characters when the option shows up.


_**Flashback to many years ago**_

" _You know, the only reason my master wants you dead is 'cause of your eyes". The crocodile faunus laughs. "But seein' as you ain't got 'em no more, you might be able to convince me to spare your life."_

 _In response, Maria tries to throw her sickle at Tock, but she dodges that too._

 _Tock chuckled. "Well, I respect that, a fighter to the end."_

 _Tock readies her saber to kill Maria, but Maria manages to find her other sickle. She clicks the switch on it, calling the other blade back over. Tock, in its path, gets the blade of the other sickle embedded into her back, causing her to fall forward. Maria then uses the sickle in her hand to slash at Tock as she falls forward…_

 _ **Present day**_

"But I wasn't… I went into hiding soon after".

Maria Calavera was just finishing the story of how she lost her silver eyes to team RWBY, Oscar Pine and Qrow Branwen. All of them wore a look of remorse for the once great Huntress who had her career so swiftly and so so callously ended.

All but one.

"I can't believe it. You… _You're_ the Grimm Reaper, you were a legend!" Sitting up fast enough to pop a few joints Qrow Branwen stared at Maria like he had seen the face of Oum. "And then you disappeared..."

Oscar, was startled by Qrow's sudden movement, but not enough to prevent him asking "how exactly does a legend just disappear?"

Oscar was completely ignored by Qrow, who had instead moved to the back of the flatbed to kneel next to Maria with his hands on his knees.

"You never used your name, never showed your face. Lots of us thought you were just layin' low. Eventually, we just came to accept you were probably dead. But the stories about you, I based my weapon off of yours. I wanted to be just as good as the Grimm Reaper."

Ruby, Weiss, Blake, Yang, and Oscar couldn't quite believe what they were hearing. Was this respect? From QROW? Yang had slowed Bumblebee down so she could catch everything that was being said, and Ruby was blinking in shock.

For the others, they could attest that in the short time they knew Ruby and Yang's uncle, he had never seemed so focused, even in the heat of battle. The man practically had stars in his eyes!

"Well I'm nothing but a disappointment, so you're well on your way".

Maria had been staring off into the distance and remembering her maiming, so she had missed Qrow's unusual behaviour.

Qrow meanwhile didn't seem fazed by the casual insult, in fact he seemed emboldened by it.

"My gods, the Grimm Reaper just spoke to me."

Blake was about to ask a question before Qrow wheeled around to the group. "Guys! THE Grimm Reaper just spoke to me! Can you believe it?"

"Uh, uncle Qrow? Are you feeling alright?" Ruby had immediately regretted asking her uncle that question when he turned to her with this crazed look she had never seen before. Give her a miserable uncle who was angry at his unlucky semblance, or an uncle whose eyes were unfocused because of a drunken stupor any day. Something about the look in his eyes right there gave her the heebie jeebies.

"Am I alright? AM I ALRIGHT!?" Qrow started laughing hysterically. "THIS IS THE GREATEST MOMENT OF MY LIFE!"

Everyone besides Yang shuffled away from the babbling man, pressing into the corners of the flatbed.

"Pipe down would you? You're making a fool of yourself." Maria grumbled at Qrow, obviously too old for this kind of crap.

"Oh Oum I'm so sorry!"

If Yang was having any thoughts that the man before her was her uncle, they had just been completely shattered. Sorry? Sorry!? Since when had he ever apologised for anything? He didn't even say oops for tying dog treats to a stick and stealthily putting it into her dad's back pocket. No-one had wanted to see white underwear with red hearts on it, and Tai certainly didn't want to show it.

Weiss leaned over to Ruby and stage whispered "How soon can we get to Atlas?"

"Ms Grimm Reaper? Oh, can I call you Maria? I'm your biggest fan!" Qrow seemed to teleport all around Maria, asking question after question from "how many Grimm could you kill in a single day!" to "what's your favorite alcohol?".

Ruby cringed as she had an involuntary flashback to Volume one- I mean a year ago, when she met professor Goodwitch, who they felt they hadn't seen in three years.

"Can I please please please have your autograph Ms Reaper? Sign my Scythe!"

Ruby visibly shuddered as the image completed itself.

Oscar had, for the most part, not reacted to the man who punched him into a tree acting like a star-struck fan. This is because his mind had refused to make that connection. Instead, he saw Qrow sitting in silence while Yang drove them to Argus with the sun reflecting off her flowing blonde hair as she turned to him and smiled.

Ozpin wished he could go into such a fantasy but, considering how he was a bajillion years old, couldn't because Yang to him was like negative 100000 years old. It was too gross. He just had to sit quietly in Oscar's mind behind a giant padlock with a sign saying "Keep out- wizards only" taped to it. He wished he never caused his trusted ally so much pain, but maybe a little more wouldn't be so bad right now.

Maria could feel her ears about to give just as her eyes had done decades ago. She moved so she was facing Qrow and when he was distracted, she slapped him in the face.

This did not have the intended effect of shutting him up, he just squeed like a civilian teenage girl and exclaimed "I am never washing this cheek again."

Blake's ears had flattened on her head and her eyes were as wide as dinner plates. "Yang, your uncle is scaring me."

Yang sputtered something that was a mix of "scaredy cat" and "you're not the only one", creating a verbal mess that only Jinn knew the meaning of.

Ruby had pulled her uncle away from the ex-silver eyed warrior long enough to ask Maria "Um Ms Calavera? Could you teach me how to use my eyes the way you used to?"

Maria huffed, but seeing as how Ruby was in desperate need of instruction decided to divulge some important information.

"Well, first you need some Headlight fluid-"

"Oh oh train me! Please I'll do anything! You name it, I'll even cut out my eyes to be like you!"

Maria picked up her cane and whacked Qrow over the back of his head, knocking him out.

"Dearie me, I should have done that sooner. Now as I was saying, you're going to want to rub some aloe vera on your neck"

Weiss crawled nearer to Yang and asked the brawler "how soon to Argus?"

Yang sped up as she said "not soon enough."

Qrow began to mumble in his sleep as the flatbed hit a few bumps.

"Zzz bigst faaan zzzz."


End file.
